Puriyadha Pudhir movie review: Bland screenplay with predictable plotline
Director: Ranjith Jayakodi
Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Gayathrie, Sonia Deepti, Arjunan
The release of this Vijay Sethupathi starrer has been delayed for a long while despite its completion and with a change in the title from Melliasai to Puriyadha Pudhir, finally hits the marquee this Friday. The thriller deals with the lust for voyeurism in the digital world and its consequences.
The film starts with a girl committing suicide by jumping off a multistoried building. Cut to the next scene, we see Kathir (Vijay Sethupathi) is an aspiring musician who takes care of his friend’s musical instruments shop. Meera (Gayathrie) is a part time violin teacher at Alliance Francaise. It was love at first sight for Kathir when he meets Meera at his shop while she was playing a catchy tune on the piano. She also reciprocates. All seems well, until Kathir starts receiving obscene video clips of Meera from a stranger. The stalker also threatens to reveal all to the world if Kathir did not heed to his order.
Meanwhile, two of Kathir’s friends are caught in a sticky situation. One of them – Vinod – is exposed while having an affair with his boss’s wife, and he goes on to end his life. The other one DJ (Arjunan) is held in a drug raid.
Kathir who wants to save Meera becomes an emotional wreck as he has no clue about the culprit. But the pudhir (mystery) is resolved in the climatic portions.
The director takes his own sweet time to establish the romance between the lead pair and it is a tad slow. Apparently, Sethupathi looks young and vibrant and shines every bit, but could not rise above the script like he usually does in his movies due to the weak writing here.
Gayathrie looked perfect for the soft-spoken vulnerable Meera, but something was lacking in her performance. Perhaps her slow mode of dialogue delivery bogged down an exhilarating thriller? Arjunan is just about adequate, while Ramesh Thilak in a blink-n-miss role is wasted. And the important flashback portions with Deepthi’s extended cameo fail to create the necessary impact.
The director has touched upon a burning issue in the film and even projected it in a decent manner without any sleaze. Even the suspense element is intact till the end. And the larger message is that ‘it doesn’t hurt until it happens to us’. But it comes few years late as we have witnessed quite a few films including Lens in the recent times. Also, the bland screenplay with predictable plotline act as spoilers.
Technically, Sam CS music is pleasant and background score goes well with the mood of the genre. Dinesh Krishnan’s cinematography is adequate.
